Turkey has been told to expect ruling in a series of cases where it has been accused of depriving citizens in south-eastern Turkey of their rights amid fighting between the Turkish army and Kurd militants, the European Court of Human Rights said Thursday.
After receiving complaints from 160 people about allegations of unlawful killings, ill-treatment and unlawful deprivation of liberty, the court said it would bring the cases to the attention of Turkey and issue a ruling at a later date.
The court said that it would give priority treatment to many of the 34 applications submitted, following the death of 43 people in six of the applications when buildings they took refuge in were allegedly bombed by security forces.
Reports say most of the cases originated in events that took place in south-eastern Turkey, primarily the town of Cizre and Sur.
The region is home to many of the country’s Kurds, a large number of whom complain of systemic discrimination by the state.
Open-ended curfews in the region have been imposed by the government since August 2015, after a two-year ceasefire between Turkey and the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) collapsed in July 2015 amid mutual recriminations.
The court had earlier accepted five of 40 submitted requests for interim measures. It said it lifted those interim measures after four of the applicants died, allegedly because they were not taken to the hospital by the government, and a fifth was taken to the hospital.
The European Court of Human Rights was established to oversee the European Convention of Human Rights, adopted by the 47 member Council of Europe. The court is not a European Union institution. (dpa/NAN)